Hi guys,

I'm having a difficult time painting areas of a particular color without going over the implied boundary. Please have a look at the picture below to see what I mean.

What is the best way of doing this? Even with a tiny brush and a steady hand, I end up over 1/2 mm over the boundary I'm supposed to paint, thus leaving an ugly residue. Do you mask for these kinds of situations? If so, is there a particular tape or will a typical painter's mask work?

Thanks in advance!

ScubyFan
Are you using a brush? If so try painting from the middle out where you can and lift slightly when you near the edge.
Tom

Yo Scubyfan, yes i would use painters tape(blue kind). To make the tape even less stickier so as not to lift your paint, rip of a piece of tape and stick it to your shirt or paints, then mask of the job. Now put a little paint on the brush and paint from the tape edge out, kinda like drybrushing. This way the paint won't get under the tape. Once dry paint it a second coat or third or whatever it takes. Try it on a scrap piece of plastic till you get the hang of it.

You could paint the belt first ... base with acrylic/enamel and then with oils to get a more realistic leather look. Then its easier to paint in towrds the belt rather than the way you are attemting it.

You could also use a the other colour again and hide this overlap. Use some thinner and drag a clean brush downwards to straighten it, or use a black wash to give defination to the line and also hide the slight imperfection.
Masking would be a last resort for me as it can bleed and give results something similar!

Scubyfan

A little trick I learned some time back is to take a toothpick sharpen it to a point and use it rather than a brush for tight spots. I've found that I get a bit more control for detail work.

Hope it helps
Harry

Masking is a key point, I would recommend it if you aren't satisfied.

Another idea is to paint across (at a 90 degree rotation) the surface not the length of it and angle your brush at a very low angle so the overlap edges have less chance of getting paint on them.

Guys,

Thanks a lot for the tips: I appreciate it!

I will post pictures of the completed project once I finish it (in another thread, of course.)

Cheers!

One more tip. If yuo're painting with a brush and using masking tape, don't use a fully loaded brush to go over the tape. If you have too much paint in your brush, paint might seep under the mask. Too much paint also often makes an ugly ridge when removing the tape.

wow i've gotta find some of this stuff. what is it called?

If you must use tape, don't use it straight off the roll. Place it on a piece of glass and use a new #11 blade and a straight edge to cut a "clean" edge to use against the area you want to mask. Burnish it gently and then paint.
I've used liquid masks with nice results also, particularly on canopy's....patience is the key.

hey bro, its alright at first. The talent of keeping a steady hand comes over time. If you first started it should be about 4 months of painting tanks and little figures and youll have a steady hand. Keep up the good work.